4 | National News Munya: Governors will push to tame the power of MPs County bosses want question on role of Parliament to be part of referendum but praise senators BY PETER LEFTIE pmutibo@ke.nationmedia.com AND MACHARIA MWANGI machariamwangi2008@gmail.com tame the National Assembly. Council of Governors (CoG) Chairman Peter Munya said any future referendum proposed by the county bosses would include a question asking Kenyans to introduce laws taming MPs. Mr Munya, also the Meru gov- G ernor, described the National Assembly as a “rogue” institution whose powers needed to be clipped. However, he praised the Senate’s performance. Instructively, the Senate has been locked in a battle with the National Assembly over whether to give more money to counties. Whereas MPs have been opposed to an increase of Sh7 billion in the next Budget to be read next month, senators have been pushing for the bigger allocation. Mr Munya, who spoke ahead of today’s meeting of all the 47 governors in Naivasha, vowed to use all legal institutions to entrench devolution. overnors plan to take their political battle to MPs by proposing a referendum to In an interview with the Nation, Mr Munya said his first priority as chairman of the council would be to ensure devolution is not watered down by the various arms of government. “I am determined to ensure that devolution is properly anchored in law. To achieve this, we will utilise the courts to fight for our space and to create laws which protect devolution from being watered down by future regimes,” he said. He also intends to push for increased funding for devolved functions. “There will be no point fighting to ensure that functions are devolved to the counties yet there is no money to fund them,” he said, REACTION CoG chairman on future plans On his agenda: “I am determined to ensure that devolution is properly anchored in law”. On cash for counties: “There will be no point fighting to ensure that functions are devolved to the counties yet there is no money to fund them.” JEFF ANGOTE | NATION Mr Peter Munya, the chairman of the Council of Governors, addresses journalists after the council’s executive committee meeting held at the Enashipai Resort and Spa Lodge in Naivasha yesterday. With him are other governors who are also members of the commitee. questioning the national government’s commitment to ensuring that devolution is implemented in line with the Constitution. “My question has always been: Why do we have a Ministry of Devolution in the first place. This is the mindset of a government which believes that it is superior to the county governments. That is why they keep on asking us that before we give you more money, tell us what you have done with the (amount) we gave you,” he said. “If they appreciated devolution, they should have called it the Ministry of Planning and Intergovernmental Relationships.” Mr Munya denied reports that governors were opposed to the Sh38 billion medical equipment leasing scheme. “Governors are asking for transparency in the scheme. We want some things made clear to us. For example, are there any hidden costs that county governments may be called upon to shoulder along the way?” he asked. According to him, some counties like Lamu had as few as 20 trained medical personnel and were unlikely to efficiently implement the scheme. “Some counties do not even have the structures to store the equipment. We are asking: Will the national government help in setting up the structures?... Is (it) willing to help in training more personnel to manage the scheme? These are the questions we want answered by the Cabinet secretary,” he said. He also challenged the national government to give a commitment that it will allow counties to pick the medical equipment they need to deliver on health services. “Some counties already have some of this equipment. You will find a county which has, say, a dialysis machine. Will it be allowed to ask for different equipment according to its needs?” However, he declined to comment on CoG’s plan for the Pesa Mashinani campaign, which was started by his predecessor, Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto. A decision on the referendum push is expected to be made when the governors meet today. “Personally I support the Pesa Mashinani campaign because I believe we must entrench the amount of resources to be channelled to county governments in the Constitution. This is the only way we will safeguard devolution from being derailed by the national government,” Mr Munya said. “But as the chairman of CoG, I only convey the wishes of the governors so a clear road map for the Pesa Mashinani campaign will be announced tomorrow”. Mr Munya also defended governors against accusations of corruption in the management of county governments and challenged the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to prosecute any governor if it has evidence of misuse of public funds. DAILY NATION Friday June 5, 2015 POLITICS | Leaders meet in Naivasha today to chart way forward for the Pesa Mashinani campaign meant to entrench devolution $"#% '/3,-6 (+/31*56/046 *7 &9.35, )208-5607: Invi applica m n ad Th i Z S a i lly d a ip p d a dy a Uni i O d. Z Sch a m32 c i c l d m a andin i ll c al and a ic abi y in c a hip abili n c mm m n bli vic &